


plans in motion

by Chillykins



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Character Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:49:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25519075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chillykins/pseuds/Chillykins
Summary: Hubert receives news of his father's fate. Just another step on the path to achieving Edelgard's goals.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15
Collections: In Time’s Flow





	plans in motion

**Author's Note:**

> this was one of my pieces for in time's flow, a fe3h fan album put together by some incredible people! you can find the album for free download here: https://fe3hfm.bandcamp.com/album/in-times-flow
> 
> special shoutouts to twitter users @Catatune for the art and @JenTonon for the track! may the hubert squad live forever. you can find me @longestyeehaw
> 
> also, this track is affectionately known by the team as "goodbye hubert dad"

Hubert makes a habit of identifying the source of every noise he hears. As a man who lives in the shadows, he knows the dangers they can hold. New footsteps enter the library and he glances up from his book. He expects the cause to be another student. Instead, it’s a nun. Keeping her in his peripheral vision, he returns to reading the compilation of letters from old Empire leaders.

When she heads towards him, Hubert looks up once more. He’s seated far from the others in the library. There’s no doubt who the nun is there to see. The question, of course, is why. Every conversation has higher stakes now, with how close he and Edelgard are to making their final break.

“Edelgard said I’d find you here,” the stranger says.

He takes in her unassuming appearance. The wavy brown hair, the short stature. Either she poses no threat or she’s been sent by someone who wants her to seem harmless. Time to proceed cautiously—not that he knows any other way.

“She was correct, as you can see. What is it you want?”

The woman doesn’t seem bothered by his attitude. He has a reputation, after all. “I come with news from the Empire that concerns you.”

Hubert merely stares at her. Why must messengers always insist on dragging the moment out?

“I’m sorry to inform you that your father is dead.”

“I see,” he says levelly. “Are there any further details?”

The woman shakes her head. “I’m afraid not.”

“Very well.”

Edelgard’s ascension to the throne will be common knowledge soon enough. The other nobles won’t be able to miss the signs. The prime minister losing his title, being placed under house arrest. The Marquess Vestra meeting an early end. As idiotic as those involved in the Insurrection of the Seven are, Hubert is sure they’ll see the message: it’s time to pick sides once more, and this is what awaits them if they choose wrongly.

The woman is still standing there. What does she expect, him to start mourning right in front of her so she can offer comfort? Even if he had cared about his father, he would hardly show those emotions to a stranger.

“Thank you for informing me,” he says, breaking the silence.

“Forgive me, but…” She studies him. “You don’t seem saddened by this news.”

Why would he be saddened? “I am not.”

“Your father—”

“Was not a man I harbored any warmth for,” Hubert interrupts. “You’ve delivered your message.”

This time she takes the hint and leaves. The book stares up at him, but he leans back in his chair to fully absorb the news. Not to grieve. To...reflect. It’s fitting that Edelgard’s reign is beginning in this way, pushing aside those who’ve done their best to destroy everything great about the Empire, everything that the Hresvelgs have been building for generation after generation. His father’s betrayal had been especially heinous, given the Vestras’ role.

All those years of his father stressing the importance of serving Edelgard’s every need. Every scolding after every mistake, the rare moments of praise when Hubert did well. His father had never been overly cruel, but he’d not been loving either, not the way that Hubert sometimes hears some of the other students talking about their parents. He’d never much minded, as the Vestras aren’t meant to be kind and caring. They can’t be, if they’re to do what they’ve been called to do. A neutral father he could handle and had handled.

But a traitor? To their entire _purpose_? Hubert hisses out a breath between his teeth. His ancestors are surely as disgusted with his father as he is. He doubts any of them so much as considered turning on their emperors. And here he is, trapped as the son of the first Vestra to do so.

Well. He _was_ trapped. It’s of little consequence now. He’s known for some time that it will fall on him to return his family’s legacy to its truth, smooth over the cracks so that his father will be all but forgotten. Forgotten by the Empire, at any rate, because Hubert will not forget, let alone forgive.

With his flash of anger shifting to purpose and a grim satisfaction, he closes the book. He stands and blows out the candle at his table. It’s time to fill in Edelgard, if the messenger hasn’t already done so. Book in hand, he makes his way out of the library by the dim glow of the still-lit candles.

Hubert von Vestra is a product of his father’s teachings. Lesson one? Do everything in your power to serve the emperor. His father might have forgotten his own rules, but Hubert hasn’t. As always, he intends to follow them to the letter.


End file.
